Turning to Hope
by marinesn
Summary: An AU story revolving around Agent Willa Fords and her start in the BAU. She will be taking the place of Walker but unlike Walker she worked on the case without any of the team but Rossi and Prentiss knowing. The story starts at the beginning of season 13 and will follow the first few episodes before going fully AU.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: AU story revolving around a new team member named Willa Ford. I'm writing this in a world where Walker was never brought in, starting at the beginning of season 13. The first few chapters will go along with current episodes but eventually it will go fully AU. Hope you enjoy, please R&R.

The elevator doors open to a pacing Garcia, blinding chewing on her thumbnail with out hearing ding as the doors open. A young agent steps off heels clicking against the tile in skin tight jeans and a denim shirt.

"What happened?" She asks, snapping Garcia out of a downward spiral of negative scenarios.

"The team was on their way to a possible lead on Scratch when I lost their signal. I haven't been able to get in touch with any of them or get the signal back." Garcia explains worry still etched in her features.

"Grab your gear and a vest. I want you to lead me the location." The woman instructs before heading into the bullpen, up the stairs through the door to Prentiss' office.

They reach the crash sight as Rossi stumbles out of the passengers seat. Both women rush out of the SUV, Garcia slowing as she see's the blood seeping through through his jeans. "Call for backup and multiple ambulance." The woman orders before swinging Rossi's arm over her shoulder and leading him from the crash.

"Willa?" Rossi asks, still slightly out of it. "What are you doing her?"

"Garcia called me when she lost the signal, what happened?"

"He ambushed us. The tires blew out, the truck came out of no where."

"Just breathe, ok. I'm going to set you down and check on the others." Willa sets him down, leaning him against the car she and Garcia had taken. When she rounds the first SUV she see's JJ with a hand over her left eye.

"I can't see." the older woman exclaims, trying to find her way.

"Agent Jareau, I'm Agent Willa Ford. Let me help you."

"What?" JJ asks still getting her bearings from the crash.

"Garcia called for help, I've set Rossi by our car. Let me take you there so I can check on the others." Willa coax. JJ finally gives in as they hear the first sirens approaching.

She sets JJ down but returns a minute later, alone and with a grim look on her face. She whispers to a few EMT's before approaching the remaining team members.

"What is it?" Garcia finally asks.

"From what I could tell Dr. Lewis has some internal bleeding and I didn't want to risk moving her. Agent Alvez was unconscious when I reached him. It looks like he was still conscious immediately after the crash because he was a few feet from the SUV." Willa explains.

"And Emily?" Rossi asks.

"He took her." Garcia's sob drowns out all other noise before Willa takes control, knowing they can't waste anymore time. "JJ and Rossi, you need to go to the hospital and get checked out. Garcia, I need you to pull it together. I'm going to call the director and try and get Reid temporarily reinstated but right now it's just you and me. I'm going to go over all my notes and I want you to figure out how Scratch knew the team was coming."

Prentiss wakes to a bright light, as her vision focuses the mostly darkened room comes into view. Surgical equipment, a heart monitor, she can feel she's in a hospital bed, she just notices her arm is in a sling before a strange face comes into view.

"You were in a crash Agent Prentiss but you're being taken care of, we both are." The man says before leaving.

"Where am I? This isn't a hospital. Where's my team?" She calls out after him before he disappears behind the curtain.

Another figure comes into the room a moment later. "How are you feeling Agent?" She hears Scratch before she see's him.

"Where's my team?"

"Don't worry, they made it out. Well most of them, I don't think Alvez is going to make it." Scratch taunts.

"No." Prentiss breaks.

"Dr. Lewis was also unconscious, internal bleeding. Who knows if Agent Jareau will get full sight back?" Scratch continues, a single tear making it's way down her cheek. "But I'd be more worried about whether or not you'll walk again."

When he uncovers her legs, the tears that had been threatening to spill now flowed freely down her cheeks. All hope of escape gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Reid walks through the door of the ER just as the final gurney burst through the doors. He see's Tara and Alvez being pushed towards the OR, growing uneasy when he see's one paramedic straddling Alvez giving him CPR. His head snaps back to the doors when he hears JJ's desperate, "Spence!"

"What happened?" He asks once he's taken in the damage to her eye.

"He knew we were coming, the truck came out of nowhere." JJ winces as the doctor begins taking out the shards of glass. "Has anyone called Will?"

"He's on his way." Reid tells her before stepping out when his phone rings. He comes back in a minute later, "The director just gave me temporary reinstatement."

"That's great." JJ smiles for the first time since they left the BAU.

"I'm going to go check on Rossi. Let me know if you hear anything on Lewis or Alvez."

Willa, having just finished coordinating a search with the state police, makes her way towards Garcia. Peeking over her shoulder, she asks Garcia if she's found anything new.

"Scratch used a frequency to release the tire spikes." Garcia informs her.

"And if you can find the frequency we can track him?" Willa hopes.

"Probably not. Scratch is smart so he's most likely bouncing the signal and it only works in certain areas so we'd have to drive around blind."

"Hoping we'd stumble across him." Willa finishes.

"I can set up an alert so we'll know if he's using the frequency again."

"Okay, lets head back. Reid should be on his way, I'll need his help going over my notes."

Whispering to herself, Prentiss is brought out of her happy place to an incessant clicking. Noticing her eye's have opened, Scratch wipes his clipped nails off of their landing sight.

"Where is it that you go?" Scratch wonders.

"Why? So you can ruin it?" Emily hisses.

"Simple curiosity."

"Why don't you just give me your cocktail of drugs, and ask me whatever you want to know."

"Unfortunately, the condition you're in prevents me from doing just that. You see I need you alive."

"Then I suppose we're at an impasse." Prentiss stops herself from smiling.

"I do however have other drugs. You see this?" Scratch holds up a small bottle. "This is morphine, it's what is making your life bearable. If I don't give you the next dose, you're body will be on fire. You'll tell me anything I want to know."

Garcia is on her way to meet Willa in the bullpen when she see's Reid rush off the elevator, clearly frustrated. She turns the corner to see him bang his fist on his old desk. "Reid!" She calls out, grabbing his attention.

"I'm going to kill him." He admits, once she's closer.

"Who?"

"Scratch, I'm going to kill him. For what he did to Hotch, and Jack, for what he's doing to Emily."

"Reid." Garcia breaths, pity laced in her voice. "I-I know I'm not a profiler but I think you need to deal with what happened to you. This isn't you and, what if you do something you regret?"

"I can deal with it after we find Emily." Reid moves past her, distracted when he see's a figure moving in Rossi's office. "What do you think you're doing?" Reid bellows once he's through the door.

Garcia and Willa both press a finger to their lips, hoping he'll get the message. He doesn't utter another word, willingly giving Garcia his phone before glaring at Willa.

Once the box Garcia had placed his phone was closed, she began to explain. "We believe Scratch may be listening through our phone, possibly even when their off."

"We?" Reid asks, turning to Willa again.

"Agent Willa Ford, Agent Prentiss assigned me to investigate Scratch. I did everything off site and updated her and Agent Rossi in hard copies."

"Someone with fresh eyes and not as emotionally invested as the rest of us." Reid realizes.

"Exactly. Now from what I heard, you're a pretty fast reader and I need help going through all the files I gave them. Something set Scratch off, suddenly coming out of hiding like he did doesn't make sense unless we were closer than we thought." Willa explains before opening the top drawer of Rossi's filing cabinet.

"This is everything you've found." Reid asks.

"I'll leave you to it. I need Garcia to help me track down a lead." She tells him before both women exit.

She's startled awake by a sudden outburst of laughter. They're in the conference room, the whole team, discussing their weekend plans while praying another case doesn't interrupt their plans.

The laughter comes at Alvez expense, something about spending the weekend with his best girl and Garcia jumping on the opportunity to point out he's talking about his German Shepard.

JJ's got weekend plans with her boys. They're going to the zoo, and Emily can't help but smile at the blonde's attempts to get Reid to join them.

Her smile disappears when the door opens suddenly, thrown off, thinking the whole team was present. "We've got a case, wheels up in 20."

She's thrown off by the rumbling voice that disappeared from her life almost a year ago. The lines on his face are present as ever but his creeping dimples give him away. He's back with his family and despite the horror they're bound to see over the next few days, they can't help but share a smile.

She moves to stand, trying to join her team. She lets out a frustrated groan when her legs won't cooperate, that's when she notices the smiles falter. She looks down, shocked by the wheelchair holding her up. Her breathing accelerates, hands moving up and down her legs trying to wake them up.

She hears shoes begin to shuffle towards door, tears begin fighting their way down her cheeks when a calloused hand lifts her chin. Forcing her to meet his dark orbs as he tries to understand her hushed whispers.

When she opens her eyes again the burning pain coming from her legs makes her break. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just please, give me the morphine."

"You'll tell me the truth." Scratch questioned.

"Yes." She breaths in pain. "What do you want to know? Where we are in the investigation?"

"No, you see I have some unfinished business with a former agent of yours. You see I made a mistake, I got too close to his son. I know you know where they are."

"I don't know where they are, I swear. That's how it works, no one close to them is allowed to know." Prentiss begs.

"Then who is the AH in these text messages you've been sending?"

"I won't tell you that." Prentiss tries to remain strong.

"Well then we have a problem." Scratch tells her before lifting up a pair of surgical pliers. Swinging them over her broken legs before dropping on her leg.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! This is the last chapter that'll go with the first episode, from here on out it'll be fully AU. After this I'll be diving into more of who Willa Ford is/why Emily picked her. Let me know if you have any suggests and if you want me to keep going. Please Review!**

JJ sits by Rossi's bedside waiting for him to wake when she hears the door open. Turning to see her husband, they both let out a breath of relief before embracing one another. "He said I could take the front seat." JJ mumbles into his shoulder.

"What?" Will asks in confusion.

"Alvez, he said I could take the front seat and now-" JJ admits.

"Hey, you can't think like that. Scratch did this."

"Do you remember the deal we made? If it ever got too close."

"Yeah, you'd be a stay at home mom and I'd open up a B&B. Are you saying you want to call it?"

"I'm saying we came as close as we're going to come."

"It does sound nice." Will imagines. "It also sounds pretty boring and we both know neither one of us would be really happy."

"I was hoping you'd say that." JJ laughs.

"How's your eye?" He asks after a moment.

"Doctor said I should get full sight back within a few days." JJ tells him before leaning in for a kiss.

They're separated by an unconvincing cough. "Do you have to do that in my room?" Rossi asks. "When can I get out of here?"

"The doctor said he wanted to keep you overnight." JJ informs him.

"That's not going to work. We have to find Emily." Rossi tries to get out of bed.

"Reid, Garcia and the new agent have it under control." Will tries to hold him down.

"New agent?" JJ questions.

"Did you think we were the only ones Prentiss had investigating Scratch?" Is all Rossi gives away before trying to get out of bed again.  
_

"Where exactly are we headed?" Garcia asks as they pull into a dark parking lot.

"The last message I sent Agent Prentiss was about Honduras connection. I couldn't figure out why Scratch would spend so much time there until I though about his drug cocktail. Someone like him would constantly be trying to improve the mixture." Ford explains. "There's a drug call iowaska, it's a type of hallucinogen. I think Scratch was trying to incorporate it into his cocktail."

"Okay." Garcia states not sure where Ford is going with this.

"There's only one church in the area that imports iowaska. I think Scratch is influencing one of the members to get his supply. There might be something here that leads to where he's keeping Prentiss."

"Is it going to be creepy?" Garcia asks before they enter.

"Probably." Ford states before opening the door to a room full of vomit.

"The signal's active again." Garcia informs her after getting over the smell. "The server must be in here somewhere."

They make their way down the hallways, through doors only leading to more vomiting worshipers. They finally make their way to a locked door in the back. Willa quickly kicks it open, clearing the room before allowing Garcia to work her magic.

The shrill of her phone catches them both off guard before Willa see's it's Rossi and nods at Garcia to continue. "What have you got?"

"Not much." Willa tells him, keeping to the script they'd set up. "How's the team?"

"Alvez and Tara are out of surgery but the doctors don't know if Alvez'll wake up. JJ and I should be out tomorrow. How's Reid holding up?"

"I've got him going over my notes, making sure we didn't miss anything."

"Keep an eye on him, JJ's worried about him." Rossi warns.

"I'll keep you updated." Willa tells the older man before hanging up and turning to Garcia. "Find anything?"

"It's going to take awhile but I think I've got a lock on his location."

"How long is awhile?"

"An hour or so."

"Okay let's head back. Maybe Reid found something that'll help your search."

"How's the team."

"JJ and Rossi should be released tomorrow."

"What about Luke and Tara."

"They're both out of surgery. Tara should be waking up soon but they don't know if Alvez will ever wake up." Willa tells her, before continuing as tears threaten to spill down the techs cheeks. "I know this is hard but right now they're being taken care of. Emily is the one who needs our help. We need to focus."

"Right, okay." Garcia continues working as they make their way back to the BAU.  
_

"You'll never leave them alone." Prentiss hisses through the pain.

"And you'll never see them again." Scratch taunts.

"Why can't you leave them alone?"

"Because I crossed a line. I allowed my curiosity to force me to make a mistake." Scratch admits.

"Jack." Prentiss realizes. "You stalked him."

"Don't paint me as a pedophile." Scratch threatens.

"No, I know you're not. I do know that you're father died when you were thirteen, and Jack's thirteen. Your interest in him is clinical. You want to know what would happen to Jack if he lost his father at the same age you did. Even after you kill Hotch you'll never leave Jack alone." Emily realizes.

"It's a shame you'll never leave here to warn them." Scratch threatens.

"I may not but I won't give them up, I won't give Jack up." Prentiss tells him, voice growing stronger. "I've died for a child before, a child I barely knew. I love Jack, I've watched Jack grow up and I will not betray him or his father. I love them and there's nothing you can do to me that will change that."

"Very well." Scratch concedes before taking a scalpel, moving it closer to her eye. When she doesn't flinch, he pulls away. "I guess I don't need you anymore."

She feels the injection making it's way through her veins. Heart beating faster she realizes this may be the end. There's a bright light, then nothing.

The next thing she knows she's standing in front of her own grave. Three dates carved into a gravestone and a six foot hole waiting for her body. It's lighter then the last time, an almost melancholy happiness surrounds her for a moment before realization washes it away.

Jumping into her grave she awakens again. The room around her disappearing and the braces holding her legs vanish, finally seeing clearly she comes up with a plan.  
_

Garcia and Willa head into the conference room to be met with an angry Reid. "Reid?" Garcia tries to get his attention.

"You did this?" he points to Willa.

"Excuse me?"

"You used an insecure line and now Scratch knows Emily knows where Hotch is."

"Emily knows where Hotch is?" Garcia questions.

"No, it was a tactic." Willa corrects, almost insulted. "We thought it might draw him out but we've used it over the past few months with no response. That's why I decided to pursue the Honduras angle." Willa informs.

"We tracked down Scratches iowaska supply. I found his signal and am tracking it now. I should have a location soon." Garcia tells Reid.

"Reid why don't you help her. I'm going to head to the hospital to see if the team has any helpful information from the crash."

When Willa gets to the hospital the team is congregated in Tara's room. She's just woken up when Willa enters, introducing herself to the rest of the team.

"Have you found anything?" JJ asks.

"Garcia may have a lead where he's keeping Prentiss, Reid's helping her."

"He dosed her." Tara reveals. "In the car, right after the crash. He dosed her while she was unconscious."

"She'd wake up in a delusion, she wouldn't know what was and wasn't real." Rossi realizes.

"Let's assume he's using classic interrogation techniques." JJ starts the profile.

"He's looking for Hotch and Jack." Willa starts.

"But she'd never give them up." Rossi adds.

"So he'd simulate death, try to scare her into giving up their location." Willa tries.

"That wouldn't work though." JJ realizes. "Remember when Emily told us what she saw when she died. She said all she saw was darkness. If Scratch tries to create a peaceful death, she'll see through it."

"She''ll wake up in reality, try to escape." Willa realizes as her phone bleeps with a text message. "Garcia got a location. I'll call you if we find her."  
_

"I'm ready to talk." Prentiss calls out, looking for a weapon. She quickly readjusts the sheets when she hears his foot steps approaching.

"I'm glad you finally came around. Now, where are Agent Hotchner and Jack?" Scratch asks, leaning forward to hear her better.

"9435—" Prentiss stretches forward, bitting his neck before pushing him away, trying to find the exit. Scratch quickly recovers, searching the drawers for her service weapon before firing in the direction she fled.

Willa pulls up to the abandoned building to see Reid's already there. She sprints in when she hears the gun shots. Making her way through the maze of the warehouse's hallways she hides behind one of the large containers when she hears footstep running down the corridor.

Closer her eyes, taking a deep breath, she turns the corner raising her weapon at the figure. They both let out a breath of relief, Willa quickly moving to help Prentiss out of the building.

"I was hoping they'd call you." Prentiss tries to smile. "How's the team?"

"Alive." Is all Willa tells her. It's all she needs to know, there's no use in worrying her more until Scratch is dead.

"How'd you find us?" Prentiss asks, choosing to ignore Willa's vague answer.

"Honduras panned out. Garcia was able to trace the radio signal."

Prentiss is about to respond when they hear more gun shots. "Who else is here?"

"Reid."

"He's not ready." Prentiss chastises.

"I know. No one else is cleared for duty, Garcia texted the location to both of us." Willa tells her.

Prentiss is about to argue further when they hears slow foot steps descending the stairs. Willa pushes Prentiss behind her in an attempt to keep her out harms way. When they see Reid push his floppy hair behind his ears Prentiss begins to scold him, "You shouldn't be here."

"Ford, get her out of here. I'll get Scratch."

"No! Please Reid, I need something that I know is real." Prentiss begs.

"Reid, get her out of here. I'll end this." Willa passes Prentiss over to him. "Call for an ambulance." She calls over her shoulder before beginning to clear the floor.

She heads up to the second floor, making her way around shipping containers when she see's a flash of someone making there way towards the staircase. Firing a few shots that miss, she see's him make his way up towards the roof. Turning the corner, she see's him heading towards the fire escape.

Quickly she fires hitting him in the shoulder. With her gun still raised she makes her way towards where he's fallen onto his stomach. Slowly he stands, wobbling as his body starts to feel the affects of the bullet wound.

"The famous Willa Ford, I should not have underestimated you." Scratch admits.

"It's a common mistake." She answers.

Scratch lifts his right arm, trying to get a shot off but Willa fires first. The bullet pierces his chest, forcing him backwards. The momentum pushes him over the edge of the roof.

Willa walks to the edge, seeing Scratches lifeless body before shifting her focus to Prentiss and Reid, who stand next to her SUV. Reid stares intently at the body while Prentiss lifts her gaze to meet Willa's.

They share a brief nod before she makes her way down the stairs and out of the warehouse, the sound of sirens meeting her ears.

She spends the next few days in meetings, defending the steps she and Agent Prentiss took to find Scratch and her ultimate decision to pull the trigger. She's just been cleared when gets a message from Prentiss to meet her in Alvez's room.

The entire team is gathered around the still unconscious team member. When Prentiss see's her enter the small room she stands from her wheel chair.

"I know this case, I know Scratch has affected us all. I know he got into my mind more than I care to admit. The one thing that kept me sane while I waited for you to find me was 'wheels up'. The idea of us all working together as a team again, as a family." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "The director has given the team four weeks of mandatory leave to recover and regroup. I want you all to think about what happened, to deal with what has happened however you need to but right now I need to know, wheel's up."

"Wheel's up." JJ echoes.

"Wheel's up." Rossi nods.

"Wheel's up." Garcia smiles.

"Wheel's up." a voice rasps from the bed. The team all turning to see Alvez open his eyes.

"Wheel's up." Reid smiles, seeing their team member awake again.

"Unfortunately Tara's injuries will inhibit her from coming back to field duty." Prentiss tells the team before turning to Willa. "Wheel's up?" She asks the youngest of the group.

"Wheel's up." She smiles after a minute.

"Wheel's up." A voice from the door surprises them all.

Emily lets out a small gasp along with the others as she meets his dark orbs. Smiling when she see's his dimples sneak out.

 **A/N: Hope you guys liked it. Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know it's been awhile but I'm writing this while I'm frustrated with a book I'm working on so updates may be infrequent. Hope you like the new chapter.**

Willa sat at her desk, enjoying the last of silence she'd been given over the past four weeks while the team recouped. Moving onto the next file in her pile she's pulled out of focus when she see's JJ and Emily making their way into the bullpen closely followed by Rossi and Hotch.

"Wow." JJ breaths when she see's the boxes of files surrounding the youngest agents desk. "I forgot how fast they accumulate."

Willa pokes her head over the fort she's seemed to have made over the past weeks. "I've organized them based on status." She informs looking to Prentiss.

"Why don't you fill me in in my office. Hotch?" She looks to the old unit chief, nodding for him to follow the two.

"I talked to the director." Prentiss starts after taking a seat behind her desk. "Hotch will be taking JJ's old office and will be leading the cases from here while I take lead in the field. Willa your transfer officially went through so you'll be joining us on the next case."

"Okay, I've gone through a few files that I think demand the teams attention. Most of them I was able to consult on, any I thought were urgent I handed off to Anderson and the B team. There are a few I flagged, either there wasn't enough for a profile or the supposed cases weren't connected. I had Garcia set up a alert if anything changes." Willa explains.

"Excellent. Why don't you split them, bring half to my office and the other half to Hotch, we'll sign off on them." Emily advices before looking out into the bullpen to see Reid make his way in.

Willa nods before moving to leave. She notices that instead of following her out Hotch takes a seat across from Emily. "I can't thank you enough." She hears him begin. Eye's flickering back through the window in Emily's office Willa notices the woman drop her head. With a wave of her hand Willa can tell she's trying to brush off his thanks. "I'm just happy it's over." Prentiss ends as Willa makes her way through the office door again with the first two boxes.

Hotch brushes past her saying he'll grab his share of boxes before heading to his new office. Willa turns to her flushed looking superior with a raised eyebrow.

Prentiss rolls her eyes, trying to convince the younger woman to let it go. Willa drops the boxes next to her desk before moving to the door to repeat her actions.

Garcia makes her way down the halls of the hospital she's grown familiar with over the past four weeks. Alvez spent the two weeks after he first woke up in and out of consciousness. It wasn't until five days ago that he stayed awake for the whole day, the doctors keeping him so long to ensure he wouldn't slip back into a coma.

Today they were releasing him and Emily had given Garcia the 'ok' to be late so she could take him home. "Ready?" she asks, making her presents known.

"I thought it was the teams first day back?" Alvez asks confused.

"It is. Emily gave me the morning so I could take you home."

"You should be teasing the newbie."

"You're the newbie." She teases back before seeing his unconvinced stare. "I've tried but we've been working together for four weeks and I know nothing about her. She's all business."

"So?" Alvez laughs.

"So this team is a family. Family opens up to each other and I don't even know where she's from." Garcia huffs.

"Why don't you check her file?" Alvez suggests as though it's obvious.

"Yeah, let me just dig through her file. That'll build some trust." Is Garcia's sarcastic response. "Come on, let's get you home."

They're just getting to his apartment when Garcia's phone goes off. She pulls up the alert before letting out a frustrated sigh. "A case?"

"The new girl flagged it. I thought it was a waste but—"

"But she was right." Alvez smiles. "You should go. I'll be fine."

Garcia make her way for the door, dialing the newest number in her contacts. "They found another body in Miami." Is all Alvez hears before the door shuts leaving him alone until the sitter drops off Roxy.

When Garcia enters the conference room, Willa already has the case pulled up and the files set out for the team. "I talked to Emily, whenever you're ready with the new case. You can present it to the team."

"Okay, let me just add it in." Garcia fakes a smile before leaving. She returns a few minutes later, bring the team with her. "Our latest case take us to Miami. The first victim, Sam Travers was found in front of popular club Crash nine days ago. He was tortured." Garcia informs the team before pulling up the picture of his body. "He had three broken fingers, two broken ribs and bruises covering his face."

"That's a lot of rage." JJ comments focuses on the impacts to his face.

"Yeah." Garcia stutters horrified. "Ricardo Lewis was found this morning in front of the same club. The ME found burn marks and bruises all over his body. He also had three broken fingers. The ME also found evidence of drowning and that someone revived him." Garcia finishes.

"What connects these cases beside the torture and the club?" Reid asks.

"Lewis was a known dealer, he'd been arrest within a three block radius of the club twice and is known to deal in Crash. Travers is a regular client of Lewis's." Willa answers.

"You flagged Travers case?" Hotch questions.

"I noticed the amount of rage in the torture immediately. When I had Garcia look into his background I got suspicious. He wasn't directly affiliated with any gangs, he only did drugs recreationally and had multiple dealers all over the city. My gut said it wasn't an isolated incident." Willa explains.

"Alright, wheels up in twenty. Hotch will be running things from here, I'll see you all on the jet." Prentiss dismisses.

The short ride in Miami is spent mostly in silence except for the brief report from Garcia and Hotch who were able to track down where Lewis was taken from. Just before they land Prentiss divides up the tasks.

"JJ and Willa I want you to head to Lewis's abduction site and then Travers, Rossi you go to the club and see if the locals missed anything. Reid and I will go to the station."

Prentiss and Reid arrive at the station after a silent car ride. As Reid reaches for the handle, Prentiss speaks up, "I know you received you assessment today."

"Then you know how bad it is. Thirty days off for every hundred?"

"It's better than not coming back."

"I'm not sure I'm the same person." Reid admits.

"And you shouldn't be. The thirty day clause is precautionary but, so you're not bored out of your mind, I've arranged for you to give seminars to other agents during the thirty days off." Emily explains.

"Are you worried about me being in the field?" Reid asks after a moment.

"Why would I be?"

"Because I wanted to kill Scratch." Reid admits. "After what he did to you, after what he did to Hotch. I wanted to kill him."

"The review board asked me to give my opinion before they made their decision. I said there wasn't a doubt in my mind that you could handle being in the field again."

"You should stop putting yourself on the line for us." Reid advices.

"I know you Spencer. You're not going to break." Prentiss assures him before exiting the SUV.

Rossi leaves the medical examiners without having learned anything new. Neither Lewis nor Travers had any drugs in their systems and both looked to have bee tortured in different ways over a series of days.

Rossi pulls out his phone intending to fill in Prentiss before changing his mind and calling Garcia to try and quell some of his inquiries about their newest agent.

"You ask, I tell." Garcia answers.

"Garcia, what can you tell me about our new agent?"

"Not much. She's very professional and private. Why, did something happen?"

"I just like knowing who I'm working with." Rossi answers. "Can you send me her file."

"I'm not going to do that."

"And why not?" Rossi asks surprised she isn't as curious as him.

"Don't you remember how mad you were when we dug into your past and profiled you. It's no way to build trust."

"Garcia." Rossi warns loosing his patience.

"Why don't you just request the file yourself." She suggests.

"Because Prentiss block all requests. I need you to hack into it."

"Hack into what?" Rossi hears Hotch ask over the line.

"He wants me to hack into Ford's file sir." Garcia rats him out.

"Prentiss has her reasons for blocking the request and Ford has her reasons for wanting her past to be kept there." Hotch ends the argument. "Did you get anything from the medical examiner."

"Nothing, I'm heading back to the precinct now." Rossi frustratedly ends the call.

"The abduction site is around the next block. The unsub must have been strong to overpower Lewis and get him out of site before anyone noticed." Willa comments, going over her original notes again.

"The unsub was probably male." JJ guesses.

"Based on the aggression shown on Travers body, I came to the same conclusion."

"Garcia said the two of you worked together a lot over the past four weeks." JJ tries to make conversation.

"Yeah." Willa continues to focus on the case.

"I know she doesn't do well with change but you two seemed to do a good job while we were gone."

Willa hums in response.

"What department were you in before Emily brought you in on the Scratch case." Emily's name seems to snap Willa out of her trance.

"What's up with Emily and Hotch?"

"You noticed that too?" JJ asks excited.

"Straight laced Emily Prentiss flustered and awkward? Yeah I noticed."

"Do you think it's Hotch being back?"

"I don't know, I wasn't here before he left but that seems to be the only thing it could be." Willa comments as they make their way out the SUV and to the abduction site.

"No camera's." JJ notices.

"There doesn't look to be any blood." Willa notices making her way around the dumpster. "I've got something."

JJ turns the corner to see Willa pulling a backpack from behind the dumpster. Using a pair of gloves Willa opens the backpack to find it filled with various pills and powders.

"Looks like we found Lewis's corner."

"If the unsub knew this is where Lewis sold, it wouldn't have been hard to grab him." Willa theorizes.

 **Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what ya'll think. Please leave a review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I know it's been a while but here's the new chapter. It's a little shorter than the other but I plan to post again in the next couple day. As always please leave a review, they feed my starving inspiration.**

When the team reconvenes at the police station, JJ and Willa seem to be the only ones with good news but finding Lewis's abduction site with out any helpful evidence gets them no where.

"Reid, I want you working on victimology. See if there's anything else besides drugs connecting the victims. Willa and Rossi, dig into their backgrounds and the club. JJ and I will try to find the unsub's comfort zone, maybe that will narrow down our search." Emily assigns.

Hours pass in silence before Reid slams his hands down on the table in frustration. "We're wasting out time here." he exclaims before storming out of the conference room.

JJ is quick to follow him. "Reid!" she calls out once she catches up to him in the parking lot.

"There are only two victims, there's not enough here for us profile. Why did she bring us here?" He asks referring to Willa.

"Because she saw something." JJ answers.

"And what if she's wrong? What if we're just wasting our time?"

"How many times did you ask me that when I choose a case?" JJ asks. "You never questioned me, you've never questioned Hotch, or Emily, or Garcia's choices. So what's really going on?"

"What can she see that I can't?" Reid whispers.

"I don't know, because I don't see it but she does. We have to trust her." JJ tries to explain before leaving him alone to make the decision whether he wants to come back or not.

"I think we should call it a night." Emily tells them before Detective Ryan comes into the conference room.

"We found another body." He tells them.

"Where?" Rossi asks.

"In front of the court house."

"Do you have an ID yet?" Willa asks, as they all begin to leave for the crime scene.

"Yeah, the officers called to the scene ID him as Issac Fernandez. He's the number two in a local drug gang." Ryan explains.

"Another drug connection. Was he reported missing?" Prentiss asks.

"No but I talked to a detective in drug and gangs who said Fernandez has been missing from key meetings over the past three days. His death could spark spree of killings if we don't find the killer." Ryan informs them before they head to the scene.

"The court house seems like a particular choice." JJ points out as Reid examines the body.

"Looks like he held out longer than the others, he died from the torture." Reid tells them.

"Then we should assume the killer didn't get the information he was after." Prentiss says what their all thinking.

"Are we sure this isn't a vigilante?" Rossi questions.

"If it was why would he need to torture his victims?" JJ answers.

The team continues to theorize as Willa makes her way around the crime scene making notes to asks Garcia to check the security camera's and Fernandez's criminal record, specifically cases where he's been acquitted or had a miss trial.

Once the team is done with the scene Prentiss sends them to the hotel for the night. However once she's sure the team has turned in for the night and her roommate, JJ, is asleep, Willa sneaks back to the precinct. She call Garcia on her way, asking her to send her any information she has on the victims and the clubs history.

When JJ wakes up the next morning, she confused when she see's Willa's bed in pristine condition. After checking the bathroom and changing she meets the team for breakfast. Rossi is the first to ask where Willa is, and JJ responds with a shrug of her shoulders.

They're even more confused when they see one of the SUVs missing. Emily simply smiles knowing she must have thought of something and headed back to the precinct.

When the team enters the conference room, Willa is staring at the now full board in concentration. "Have you been here all night?" Prentiss breaks the silence while looking at the papers littering the table at the center of the room.

"I had Garcia send me everything she had before she left last night." Willa answers, eyes unmoving.

"What'd you find?" Emily continues while JJ calls Garcia and Hotch so they can be filled in.

"When I first looked over the case I knew Sam Travers wasn't the first victim, the balance between rage and methodical torture was too even. There was no rage in the torture of Lewis and Fernandez which lead me to believe there was no connection between the killer and those victims." Willa starts.

"But there was between Travers and who ever his first victims were." Rossi tries to follow.

"I think he was torturing them for names. This is personal for the killer. I knew Travers was the key so I kept digging into his association with the club." Willa tells them without turning from the board.

"Fernandez was given up by Lewis, Lewis by Travers, but who gave up Travers?" JJ asks look at the board.

"I got the cold case you requested." Detective Ryan interrupts handing the file to Willa before moving to leave.

"Has she been here all night?" Prentiss whispers with out looking away from her newest team member. Ryan nods in response before leaving.

"This is it." Willa finally looks up. "Carla Wilkes, 21 years old. Her body was found in front of a small pond a few blocks from the club. There was no sign of sexual assault but there were small signs of torture. Based on the ME report she wasn't killed there. The—" Willa explains but is cut off by Garcia.

"The case went cold when they ran out of leads. There wasn't any physical evidence left behind by the killer but the detective assigned to the case believed it was done by someone who knew her." Garcia finishes while Willa rifles through one of the piles.

"I've seen that name somewhere before." Reid tries to remember.

"Here it is. A girl died of an overdose at club Crash while out with a friend. The girl, Carla Wilkes, swears she didn't see her friend take any drugs. Detective believe they may have been slipped into one of her drinks."

"Garcia pull up the file." They hear Hotch request. "Lilah Gates. Looks like she overdosed on a new kind of ecstasy similar to the pills found in the backpack JJ and Willa found. Her death was eventually ruled an overdose after much protest from her father, former district attorney Gerald Gates."

"Digging into the girls social media accounts. It looks like Carla introduced Lilah to Travers and the two were an item before she died." Garcia tells them.

"Looks like Lilah was all Gates had. His wife died six years ago from cancer and they weren't close to their extended family." Hotch tells them.

"Does Gates have any property in his name?" Prentiss asks.

"Just house a few miles outside of Miami." Garcia tells them.

"What about anything registered in his wife's or daughters name?" Willa tries.

"Jackpot. There's a warehouse being rented under his daughters name."

"JJ, you and Reid take Detective Ryan to Gates' house. Rossi, Ford and I will check out the warehouse." Prentiss orders.

"Do you think he already has his next victim?" JJ asks.

"The leader of the gang Fernandez and Travers are a part of was just ambushed at this personal residence. Two of his guards were shot." Detective Ryan tells them.

"That's his end game." Willa realizes before the team heads out.

Rossi, Prentiss and Ford arrive at the warehouse just as they get a call from JJ that the house is empty. "He's here." Rossi nods towards beat up car parked near the entrance.

Prentiss enter first only to be yanked back by Ford when she hears the safety of a gun click off.

 **A/N: Please leave a review and let me know what you think so far.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Bit of a longer chapter. As always, please leave a review and let me know what you think.**

"Is this what it always feels like?" Hotch asks pacing the short width of Garcia's office.

"What'd you mean?" She asks not looking up from her screen, still trying to find more information on Gates that could help the team.

"Waiting to know if their all ok." He admits causing Garcia to look up from her screen and see the worry on her bosses brow.

"Sir," She gives him a sad smile. "Eventually you realize that they're all trained for this, they all know what their doing and the best you can do is give them all the information they need to get out safely."

"So it gets better?"

"Oh no, I still worry all the time but you find ways to deal with it." Garcia tells him. "Is that why you've been in my office during the whole case?"

"I know you've been annoyed with me but I'm just worried."

"About the team or being back?"

Hotch smiles at that, she's picked up a few things being surrounded by profilers for so long. "Both." He answers honestly.

Willa pulls Prentiss back just before the shot goes off. Prentiss send her a grateful look before turning to Rossi who asks, "Did you see anything?"

"It's an open space, he's at the center of it. Rossi you go around see if you can find another entrance. Willa and I will try and talk him down." Prentiss orders. A few minutes later they hear from Rossi, there's a back door that he wedge open. He's got a shot if anything goes wrong.

Prentiss moves to enter the warehouse again when she feels a hand catch her elbow. "Let me try."

"Willa—"

"I know the emptiness he's feeling. I can connect with him and show him there's an out."

"And if that doesn't work?" Prentiss worries, thinking about the mans desperation for 'justice'.

"Unlike you, there's no one to miss me." She tell her before cracking the door open. "Gerald Gates, my name is Willa Ford I'm with the FBI. Is it okay if I come in so we can talk?"

"Stay back!" He yells.

"I'm unarmed, I just want to talk. My associates are going to stay outside. It'll just be you and me." She tries again. When she hears no answer, she nudges the door open, slowly stepping through.

The warehouse is dimly lit and the smell of burnt flesh tests her gag reflex. She see's a man strapped to the only chair in the room, bruises covering his face and small burn marks on his abdomen. He tries to yell out to her but the duck tape over his mouth muffles his cries.

Gerald Gates stands behind him, looking nothing like the man in the photo she'd seen. He'd grown thin in his obsession to find out what happened to his daughter. His unkept beard makes him almost unrecognizable.

She walks closer to him, keeping her hands raised to show him she won't shoot. She see's a flicker of something behind him, knowing Rossi is ready the moment something goes wrong.

"I know what you're going through." She starts.

"You can't possible know what it's like to loose a child." Gates almost growls.

"No but I know what it's like to loose the only person you love. To feel desperate for answers, desperate for someone to blame." Willa tries again.

"I couldn't accept that she would have taken them willingly."

"So you starting digging."

"There was a picture on her phone. One of her and Carla, there was someone taking drugs in the background."

"So you decided to question Carla."

"I didn't mean for it to go that far, I didn't want to kill her." He cries.

"I know, you just wanted to find out what happened." Willa presses for him to continue.

"She told me about Travers, Lilah never told me she had a boyfriend. Carla told me she introduced the two and I just got so mad. It's her fault my baby's dead." Gates starts to cry.

"No amount of killing is going to bring her back." That sets him off.

"He deserves to die!" Gates screams, waving the gun around before pressing it against the man's temple. "He deserves to die." He repeats in a low whisper.

"Do you want to know what stopped me." Willa gives it one last try. "Do you want to know why I didn't go down the same path? I'm a cop, I had the connections, I could have become you."

That seems to stop Gates, he looks up in interest, pulling the gun back just enough that Willa knows she has his attention.

"Who'd you loose?" Gates asks.

"My husband. He was a firefighter, killed in the line of duty. The fire wasn't an accident." Willa tells him honestly. "I knew the arson investigator, we went to school together. I could've gotten the file, I could've investigated on my own and left a trail of bodies behind just like you. I almost did."

"What stopped you?"

"The same thing that almost convinced me. I'm a cop. It's my job to protect people, abide by the law, and arrest anyone who doesn't. I'm a cop, it's who I am. Just like how you're a prosecutor. You speak for the victims, you give the accused a fair and just trail, even if it's not what they deserve." Willa tries to convince him. "You are a man of the law, this is not who you are. This is the man grief has turned you in to."

"How'd you get past it?" Gates asks, slowly loosening the hold on his weapon.

"I'll let you know when I do." Willa tells him, reaching a hand out. Pleading with him to release his weapon.

The silence seems to last forever while Willa waits for him to either hand over the gun or shoot her. Rossi stands ready to shoot at any sudden movement while Prentiss waits to see if the young woman can use her greatest tragedy as a strength in the field.

He's turning the gun in his hand when the captured man makes a move. Having freed his hands while Gates was distracted, the gang leader makes a move for the gun.

When the first shot goes off, Prentiss moves in just in time to see the bullet rip through Willa's shoulder. The younger woman is up and heading to break up the grapple between Gates and his victim. She jumps at Gates knocking him to the ground, breaking up the fight, but not before another shot goes off.

JJ and Reid arrive at the scene just as Prentiss is carrying a cuffed Gerald Gates out of the warehouse. They both hear yelling from one of the ambulances, and see the captured gang leader fighting the paramedics who are trying to help him.

Almost frantically, they both search the scene looking for Rossi and Willa. Only to turn to another ambulance when they see their newest team member fighting her set of paramedics.

"I don't need to go to the hospital." They hear her protest.

"Ma'am I don't think you understand the severity of your wounds." One medic argues.

"I've been shot before. This-" She lift her shirt to show one of her wounds. "is barely a graze, won't even need stitches. And this," She points to her shoulder, "Is a through and through that has already stopped bleeding. Stitch it up and I'll by a sling at a drug store."

"You're going to the hospital." Rossi tells her.

"No I'm not." She argues.

"What's the hold up?" Prentiss asks, once Gates is secured in Detective Ryan's squad car.

"She refuses to go to the hospital." Rossi tells her, growing tired of Willa's refusal.

"You're going or you're off the next five cases." Prentiss threatens.

"Fine." Willa lets out a breath before shrugging off the paramedics hand and climbing into the ambulance, closely followed by Prentiss.

"I talked to Rossi, he's agreed not to tell anyone about how you talked down Gates." Prentiss tells her once the doors are shut.

"Thank you." Willa gives her an honest smile. "Can I ask you something and get an honest answer."

"Sure."

"Why did you take a chance on me? Why not just leave me send me back to cold cases?" Willa asks.

"You remind me of me. And despite many warnings and your obvious recklessness, you're good. Too good to be left on the third floor going through old cases." Prentiss smiles. "What happened in LA wasn't your fault."

"I know, it wasn't yours either." Willa echoes. "Now, how long is this going to take?" She turns to the EMT.

She and Prentiss return to the precinct a few hours later. The team has finished interrogating Gates and are ready to head home, when Prentiss finally has the opportunity to call Hotch.

"Hotchner." She hears his gruff voice answer, obviously not glancing at his caller ID.

"Hey, it's me." She can't help but smile.

"Finally, JJ called and said everyone was okay but-" He's not brave enough to finish that sentence yet.

"I know. Willa was refusing to go to the hospital, she needed stitches so I went with her." Emily explains.

"You feel guilty?" Hotch has to ask, still not fully in tune with her influxes again.

"No, she had him talked down but I should have know the hostage would try something." Emily critics herself. The line is silent while he lets her process. "She said she had no one waiting for her."

"She'll be a part of the team soon enough, hopefully her self sacrificial nature doesn't worsen like your's did." Hotch tries at a joke.

"It's good to have you back." Prentiss smiles. "This Unit Chief stuff is hard when there's no one to confide in."

"I'm sorry you had to keep my secrets for me." Hotch apologize again.

"I was just returning the favor." Both loose themselves in memories of darker times, times of secrets and near deaths.

"I'll let you go, you guys need to get to the jet if you don't want to get back too late." Hotch tells her before hanging up. He breaths a sigh of relief, now truly knowing she's okay.

Prentiss does the same before looking up to see Willa smirking. "How much of that did you overhear?"

"Enough to know you worrying more than you should be about me." Willa answers, "and to realize you're either incredibly awkward or completely obvious when talking to Hotch."

"What'd you mean?" Prentiss tries to play dumb.

"You forget that I'm the one who found you after you escaped from Scratch. I saw the fear in your eyes, I know that fear, I've experienced that fear." Is all Willa says before leaving to join the rest of the team.

Four hours later the team lands in DC and finally arrive back at the BAU only to find it dark and empty, except for a stream of light creeping out from underneath the blinds of the conference room.

JJ is the first to head in, closely followed by the rest of the team. All seeming to know what's waiting for them; Willa follows closely behind, eyebrows raised. She rounds the corner, smiling when she see's Garcia handing them all a drink and boxes of pizza covering the large table.

Rossi is the first to notice her trepidation, handing her can of ginger ale, her answers the question glance she sends him. "Emily said you don't drink."

"Thanks." She smiles before joining the rest of the team. She sat with them for a half hour before sneaking out the door, down to her desk. Doing her best with one arm, she tries to put away her files and make a quick get away before anyone notices her absence.

She's just finished organizing the last of the files when her elbow knocks into her bag. She already wincing at the thought of picking up the contents of her overstuff bag when she notices the absence of a loud thud.

She turns to see the only agent she hasn't been introduced to yet holding her bag by the strap, it's still swing in his hand from the falls momentum. "You've got to be careful, the elbow turns weird in those slings."

She smiles in thanks moving to grab her bag from his grasp so she can retreat to her apartment.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced, Luke Alvez." He smiles reaching out to shake her hand.

"Willa Ford." She takes his hand, giving him a tight smile before a laugh, that's mostly Garcia, draws both their eyes back to the conference room.

"I know they're a unique bunch, and a bit nosy, but isn't every family." Alvez turns back to see Willa looking at him curiously. "Just give them a chance."

"Why don't you believe that I am?" Willa questions and she can see the surprise cross his features.

"You mean besides your attempt at a quiet exit." He jokes.

"Maybe I don't want a family, maybe I just want to work and go home to my dog." Willa challenges.

"What's your dogs name?" Alvez tries a different approach.

"Jodie, she's a bernie." Willa tells him.

"I've got a German Shepard named Roxy." He shares.

"Then you know why I've got to get home." She swings her bag over her good shoulder.

She's got a hand on the glass door when she hears him call out her name, she turns giving him a questioning eyebrow raise, "Maybe we could meet up sometime. There's a great dog park that I take Roxy to whenever we're not on a case."

"Maybe." She smiles.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. As always please leave a review!**

It's been seven months since Willa's first case and the team had slowly become use to her solely professional demeanor. While Garcia refused to accept it, constantly inviting her out for girls nights, the rest of the team accepted the small pieces she allowed them to see.

Rossi understanding how devastating the lose of a spouse could be, JJ could see the fear that briefly flashed before her eyes during some cases but never understood why it was there. Emily and Hotch did their best to keep her past where it belonged whenever Garcia got to curious but Emily was starting to question whether her repression was helping or hurting.

Alvez however continued to let her adjust at her own pace. He couldn't help but smile at his success, after seven months he'd finally gotten her to agree to meeting him at the dog park by insisting Jodie needed friends.

They walked in silence as Jodie and Roxy wove their way through the trees, trading off chasing each other. Willa was lost in thought, not noticing the awkwardness Alvez was feeling as he tried to come up with a topic that wouldn't send her running.

"When did you get you get Jodie?" He decides to ask, the dog being the only topic he'd known her to be comfortable talking about.

"Three years ago, right before I moved here." She answers smiling when Jodie comes running back with what looks to be a fallen branch.

"Where'd you move from?" He tries.

"LA." Is all she reveals.

"So you're LAPD?"

"No, that's where I started with the bureau."

"I know a few guys from that office, what department were you in?"

She's looking for an out when she hears both their phones ding. Pulling it from her back pocket, she see's it's Garcia and let's out a relieved breath. They both call out for their dogs before heading back to the cars.

Meanwhile, Emily is listening to Jack as he finishes telling her about his last soccer game and promising him she'll make it to the next one. They're making their way out of the restaurant, closely followed by the older hotchner when her phone rings.

She lets out a sigh when she see's Garcia's face on the screen. "Where we headed?"

"Manhattan, serial arsonist. One firefighter dead another in ICU." The technical analyst tells her.

"Call in the team, I'll let Hotch know." Emily ends the call.

"Case?" Hotch asks, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Arsonist in manhattan, one firefighter dead." She tells him, watching a look of worry take over features. "I know you only came back if you didn't have to be in the field but with Reid out and—" Emily stops, letting out a frustrated breath.

"I'll call Jessica, she's been wanting Jack for a weekend anyway." She sends him a grateful look before he turns to tell Jack.

Willa is the last to take a seat at the round table and Emily immediately regrets not giving the young woman a warning, before nodding for Garcia to start.

"I just got a call from arson investigator Cassie Willis in New York City. There have been a string of fires in midtown manhattan, they have all been in old but still functional buildings ranging from apartment to office buildings to bars, so far she's connected eight fires." Garcia tells them.

"Why'd she only call us now?" JJ asks.

"There was fire last night. A firefighter was killed, another's in the ICU." Garcia tells them. Emily turns to see Willa's reaction only to see her focused on the file in front of her, lost in thought. "She put a rush on the results of the accelerant and connected it to the other fires."

"How were the fire's started?" Rossi asks.

"Turpentine." Garcia answers.

"There were no victims in any of the other fires?" Alvez asks.

"No. The bar fire was in the morning, not even the owner was there. All the office building fires were started in the middle of the night and the apartment building only had a few occupants, they all made it out." Garcia answers.

"The death of the firefighter may set him off, especially since he isn't using the fire as a weapon but instead as a release." Hotch profiles.

"Wheels up in thirty. Since Reid is out Hotch will be joining us." Emily dismisses. Quickly returning to her office, knowing Willa will be following her. "You're coming." Emily cuts off her rant before it starts.

"You know I shouldn't be working this case." Willa argues anyway.

"I know you have a knowledge of the city, I know you have the connections so we're not shut out by the department and I know you can ensure the investigator is telling us everything." Emily refutes.

"You're going to use me." Willa thinks.

"No. If I didn't think you could handle it, you'd be on your way home right now but I know you can. Sometimes the cases closest to us are the one's we do our best work on, no one is going to care as much as you do."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then I'll take you off the case myself, there's a reason Hotch is coming." Emily tells her before sending her back to the bullpen to get her go back.

They land in New York soon enough, all making their way to the precinct where Cassie Willis is waiting for them.

"Agent Prentiss." She greets shaking the unit chief's hand before introducing herself. "Cassie Willis, I'm the arson investigator."

"This is our other unit chief Agent Hotchner, and these are Agents Jareau, Alvez, Rossi and Ford." They each give a wave when their names called, Willa trying to convey a look to the investigator that she doesn't want anyone to know they know each other.

Willis nods before leading them to the conference room they'll be using. "I got you everything your analysis requested."

"How's the injured firefighter?" Rossi asks.

"Still not awake, I spoke to the doctors they think it'll be a few days. His lungs were severely damaged and a beam collapsed on him. One of his lieutenants pulled him out just before the building collapsed." She tells them.

"Hotch you stay here and work on the geological profile, JJ and Rossi go to the most recent fire with Willis, Alvez I want you to interview the widow and make sure it wasn't targeted. Ford and I will head to the fire station." Prentiss orders, and the team disperses.

Prentiss pulls Willa back when she moves to leave knowing Willis is lingering to wait for the team to leave.

"Are you sure you should be here?" Willis asks once it's just them and the unit chiefs.

"I wanted to stay in DC." Willa tells her.

"I made the call to bring her which is why she's teamed with me. If I don't think—" Prentiss tries to explain.

"You weren't there." Willis cuts her off. "You don't know what she went through after she lost him, you don't know how hard it was to pull her out of that abyss."

"Then help me. If you think she's going back, tell me and I'll take her off the case." Prentiss tries.

"She's right here, and she's seen a lot since you last saw her." Willa cuts them both off, continuing to refer to herself in the third person before walking out of the conference room. The women share a look before Prentiss follows her out.

The ride to the station is spent in silence. Prentiss pauses for a moment, giving Willa an out, unsurprised when she hops out as soon as the cars in park.

"You must be the FBI agents." the fire chief greets before recognizing Willa. "Willa? What are you doing here?"

"I'm on the team investigating the fires." She tells him, hoping he won't ask anymore questions. "Prentiss, this is Chief Conrad."

"I'm sorry for you lose."

"It never gets easier." He looks to Willa, sharing a look Prentiss can't decipher.

"We need to speak to the crew who worked the fires." Willa tells him.

"Both shifts have worked during them." He tells them.

"Can you call in the other shift." Will requests.

"I gave them the day to deal with their grief." Conrad tells them.

"Well they may know something and not even realize it. This arsonist is moving at an accelerate rate, every minute counts. Call them in." Willa grows inpatient.

"Yes ma'am." he agrees, stepping aside to let them in.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Prentiss hears one of the firefighters say before getting up to embrace Willa.

"Unfortunately this isn't a social call." She tells them once she's taken a step back.

"Who's your friend." He nods in Prentiss's direction.

"My boss, Agent Prentiss."

"You're working the case." Another firefighter realizes.

"I thought you were in LA?" A lieutenant Cross asks.

"I moved to DC a few years ago, been with the BAU for a few months now." She tells them, walking towards the lieutenant giving him a hug. "How are Claire and Lily?"

"Claire and I split up a few years ago, Lily lives with her but I get her on my weekends off." Cross whispers.

Willa looks down in understanding. Cross had taken her husbands death almost as badly as she had. They'd all met in college and become quick friends, Cross convinced her husband, Dixon, to join the fire department with him and had been the only witness at their small court house wedding. He blamed himself for Dixon's death, Willa knew that's what drove Claire away.

"Once this is done, let's grab some coffee." Willa gives him a sad smile before putting mask and getting back to work. "You guys worked the bar fire and the apartment fires on 34th, 50th, and 9th ave."

"Did you notice anything when you first got there?" Prentiss asks. "Anything about the crowd or how the fire had spread."

"For the amount of alcohol in the place, the bar fire was smaller than expected." Chief Conrad informs.

"There wasn't much of a crowd at that one." Cross adds.

"That makes sense, that part of 9th ave is mostly bars, given the fire was at six in the morning there wouldn't be many commuters." Willa whispers to Prentiss. "We should check security cameras, if there wasn't a crowd our arsonist wouldn't be able to blend in as well as he would at the other fires."

"You think he watches?" A voice from the door asks.

"Agents this is lieutenant Adams, he's in charge of the second shift. Adams, these are the agents investigating the fires." Conrad introduces.

"You think this sicko watches us fight the fires he started?"

"Given that the last fire was the first where someone died, we don't think he's using the fires as a weapon." Prentiss explains.

"Setting the fires is a release for him, watching you put out the fires is part of that." Willa finishes.

"Is killing one of my men part of his release." Adams almost growls.

"No. His death will either send the arsonist into hiding or cause him to spiral." Willa remains clinical.

"Is that all you've got?" Adams continues to grow frustrated.

"They've only been here an hour." Conrad warns.

"We have agents at the most recent fire and interviewing Carson's widow. We're also working on a geological profile. Give us some time to collect information and then we can catch this guy. You questioning us is only going to slow us down." Willa tries to stay calm.

"I'm sorry but this station can't stand to loose another man."

"They know." Cross speaks up. "This is Willa Ford, she's one of the Agents working the case."

A look of recognition crosses his face before sitting down and allowing Prentiss and Will a to continue their questions. They're at the station for over an hour, gathering as much information from each shift as they can before returning to the station.

The rest of the team is there when they arrive. "Looks like the arsonist is working mostly in Hell's Kitchen but there were a two fires in Chelsea." Hotch informs them.

"From what we could tell he starts the fires in the middle of the buildings, and allows them to move on their own." JJ adds.

"The widow said he was well liked, no enemies she could think of." Alvez states.

"We got the same from the station." Prentiss adds while she dials Garcia.

"Knowledge headquarters, how may I direct your call." Garcia answers.

"Can you check for security camera's where the bar fire was. Based on what we know the arsonist would want to watch the fires, and the firefighters said there was a smaller crowd at that fire due to the time of day." Willa asks.

"Look into past arrests, juvenile records, this isn't our guys first rodeo." Rossi adds.

"I'll hit you back when I've got something."

They spend the next few hours running down any leads Garcia can give them while building the profile. They're about to call it a night when Willis busts through the door. "There's another fire."


End file.
